


A Summer Fair And Some Robots

by starwhale97



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Brotherly Affection, Cute, Ferris Wheel, Other, Summer, fun day at the summer fair, hiro has trouble making friends, robots n stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 20:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3582030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starwhale97/pseuds/starwhale97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tadashi agrees to take Hiro to an annual summer fair in Sanfransokyo.  They bond over the day's various events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Summer Fair And Some Robots

“Have you ever been to the summer fair by the water, Tadashi?” Eleven-year-old Hiro Hamada asked, peering into his brother’s side of their shared bedroom.

Tadashi was hurriedly writing away in a notebook that seemed very important-looking to Hiro.  Tadashi always seemed to be writing in those sorts of notebooks.  

“What? The fair? Yeah, of course.  Mom and dad used to take us every-” Tadashi had looked up to see a pained expression on his brother’s face, and he stopped himself from saying too much.  

Hiro forced a smile and asked “Well, I was wondering if we could maybe go together today? I heard they have a special event with some new bot designs, I thought it seemed really cool...What do you think?”

Tadashi sighed.  “Hiro, I would love to, but I have this really important project to work on.  You see, there’s this really good college I want to get into next year, and I have to make something that’ll really blow them away.  Why don’t you see if aunt Cass can take you?”

Hiro stared at the floor.  “She’s busy today.  I actually wanted her to take us both, but she can’t.” He looked back up to his brother.  “It’s okay.  I’ll go by myself.  I hope you think up something incredible, Tadashi!” Hiro spun around and began to fumble through his backpack in search of his wallet.

Tadashi felt suddenly guilty.  “What about school friends? Isn’t there anyone you can go with?”

Hiro didn’t answer.  Aunt Cass had been worried that Hiro didn’t seem to have any school friends anymore.  It was rare that they ever saw him with anyone at all.  

Tadashi stood up and punched Hiro playfully on the shoulder.  “C’mon, we can go together.  One afternoon isn’t going to put me behind on my work.”

Hiro’s face lit up, and he began to list off all the fun things he was looking forward to at the fair.

“One thing though,” Hiro said.  “Could you pay for the tickets? I can’t find my wallet.”

“Aunt Cass is going to kill you....”

“I will find it, I just don’t have it at this very moment, but I can find it later, I promise!”

Tadashi laughed.  “Alright, let’s get going.”

 

They took the streetcar to the fair.  As they sat next to each other in the hot, crowded box, it occurred to Tadashi how little time they had been spending together.  He felt certain that his determination to be accepted to the San Fransokyo Institute Of Technology was causing him to neglect one of the most important people in his life.  

A cool breeze pushed past them as someone had opened another window.  Tadashi’s ball cap blew off his head and landed on his brother’s lap.  Hiro laughed and put the hat on his head.

“Is it okay if I wear it for the day?” He asked.  Tadashi nodded.

 

Upon arriving at the fair, the pair became somewhat overwhelmed by the massive crowd.  Although Tadashi had many memories of attending the event, he could not recall it ever being so busy.

They made their way slowly to an information booth to get a map, and then moved on to the special robot showcase.  They reached a large circus-like tent with blue and green stripes.  A smiling man shoved a brochure in each of their hands as they stepped in.  The inside was relatively open and not nearly as busy as the outside had been.  There was about twenty odd booths spaced out, each one containing some sort of robot, and a person to talk about it.

Tadashi quickly read through the brochure.  

“It says that all of the bots here were designed by two physicists- Dr. Kelley and Dr. Tanaka.  Would you look at that-it says they are both going to be here today!” He looked eagerly towards his brother, who was no longer there.  Hiro had run ahead and was already admiring a snake-like contraption.  He was asking a torrent of question to the woman standing next to it.  She smiled and tried to answer each one adequately before the next.  He stopped, however, upon noticing another bot across the room.

“I’ll probably come back later!” He told the woman as he rushed over to the other, more humanoid, bot.  It was made up of dozens of tiny cubes, all working together.  It stepped around awkwardly and raised its arms to wave to the spectators.  Tadashi caught up with his brother and stood next to him.

“This one’s pretty neat, isn’t it?” Tadashi asked.

Hiro nodded.  “The movements are kinda choppy, though.  Needs improvement.”

An older woman standing nearby laughed upon hearing his comment.  “You know son, an awful lot of work goes into making something like this.  It is very difficult to get it right.”

Hiro stared at her.  “Yeah, sure, but if it’s on display, it should be fully functional.  What would you know about it anyway, old lady?”

“HIRO!” Tadashi gasped, but the woman just laughed again.  “I am so sorry ma’am, he didn’t mean to be rude, he just says things without thinking sometimes.”

She smiled.  “What’s your name, son?”

“I’m Hiro, and the big annoying guy with the manners is my brother Tadashi.”  For the first time, he peeled his eye’s away from the robot and took a good look at the woman.  She was short, and a little bit hunched over.  She was wearing those old style half-moon spectacles on the end of her nose.  “Who are you?” He asked.

“I’m Dr. Kelley.  Many of the robots here are my creations.  The rest were created by my apprentice, Dr. Tanaka.  She will be arriving later this afternoon.” Hiro felt his face turn red.

“I-I’m sorry!” He said quickly.  “I didn’t realize, I mean I thought you were, uh-”

“Just an old lady at the fair who doesn’t know anything?” Before he could answer, Dr. Kelley continued to speak.  “Are you interested in robots, Hiro?”

He nodded shyly, no longer eager to converse.  Tadashi took over.  “We both are!” He said happily.  “We like to build them and whatnot.  We have a knack for it.  And I’m kind of wondering, how exactly does this one work? It seems unique from all of the others.”

“Would you boys like to take a closer look at it?” She pulled out a key and motioned towards the booth’s glass door.

Hiro jumped up and down excitedly.  Tadashi looked skeptical.

"That's very kind of you, thank you, but," He lowered his voice.  "Why us? There's tons of people here interested in robotics."

"Let's just say I like to see youths with such a strong interest in science." With that, she unlocked the door, pushed it open, and lead the brothers inside.

The robot wobbled over to its creator and held out its hand.  Dr. Kelley plucked one of the miniature cubes off of it and held it up.  Outside of the booth, a large crowd was forming, eager to see what was going on.

"Hiro, would you like to hold it?" Dr. Kelley asked.

He nodded, and she dropped the cube into the palm of his hand.  He let out a small cry of surprise as it weighed his arm down a bit.

"It's heavy!" He exclaimed.

"What are they, exactly?" Tadashi asked.

Dr. Kelley began to explain the microtechnology that had gone into the cube, what it could do so far, and what they were hoping to accomplish.  She explained that the choppy movements of the bot were due to the fact that the cubes clung together using small magnets, and they had yet to find a more efficient method of moving the pieces.  

The listening crowd was mesmerized.

The brothers stayed there for a long time, talking with Dr. Kelley about anything and everything to do with robotics.  Eventually, Tadashi became aware that they had sat down some time ago and he had no idea what the time was.  He checked, and let out a yelp.

“Hiro, I think we better get moving if we want to see any more of the fair.” He turned to Dr. Kelley.  “Thank you so much for everything, this has been awesome!”

“Of course dear, any time.”

 

Hiro and Tadashi made a quick sweep of the rest of the tent and then made their way outside.  They walked around for a while, occasionally stopping to try a ride or watch a street performer of some sort.  Hiro participated in some carnival games, losing every single one he tried.

“They’re all rigged anyway.” Tadashi explained.  “Come on, let’s go get you some cotton candy.”

They found a cotton candy booth by the ferris wheel.  They sat together on a nearby bench, eating the sweet, fluffy candy and watching the wheel go around.  

“I don’t get it.” Hiro said.

Tadashi looked at him.  “Don’t get what?”

“The ferris wheel! It’s not like it goes fast or anything exciting.  Why do people like riding on it? It doesn’t seem like fun at all.”

Tadashi jumped up and smiled.  “Let’s go try it and find out!”

They stepped into the line, which moved along fairly quickly.  When it was their turn to get on, Hiro was reluctant to step in.

“It just seems like a waste of time-”

“Oh just go on!” Tadashi said, pushing his brother in and laughing.  

As the ferris wheel carried them up, the city came into full view.  The sun had begun to set and was casting rays of gold and orange across Sanfransokyo.  The buildings were lit up inside, projecting tiny pinpricks of light among the shadowy portions of the city.  Hiro let out a small gasp.

“You can see all of downtown from here!” He exclaimed.  

Tadashi gazed out the window fondly.  “You don’t remember, but mom and dad used to take us on the ferris wheel when we would come here.  You loved it.  You would stare out the window and drool all over the place.  Kind of like what you’re doing now.”

Hiro stuck his tongue out, and they both laughed.  Then, they sat in silence for a while as their car passed over the highest point and began to move once again towards the ground.

“Tadashi,” Hiro asked slowly.  “Have you ever had trouble making friends before?”

Here we go... thought Tadashi.

“Yeah, I think everyone does, once in a while.  Why do you ask?”

Hiro did not shift his eyes away from the window.  “Uh, you see, erhm, the reason I didn’t ask my friends to go with me to the fair is, well, I don’t think any of them really like me.” His voice broke up as he spoke, and it tore away at his brother’s heart.

“What makes you say that, Hiro?”

“I asked if they wanted to go to the festival, but they said they were busy.  Except, earlier today, when we were walking I saw them all hanging out together here.” He let out a weak laugh, and there were tears forming in his eyes.  “I guess if I ask them about it they’ll just say that it was last minute and they thought I couldn’t go or something...”

Tadashi wrapped his arms around Hiro and hugged him tightly.  “Listen Hiro,” He spoke firmly but with understanding.  “Friends who do that sort of thing aren’t friends at all.  They’re just fake people and they aren’t worth wasting your time.”

Hiro nodded.  “I just, they seemed so nice before and I thought they were cool.  I wanted to be more like them.”

“I used to think like that too, Hiro.  I tried way too hard to fit into a group where I didn’t belong.  You’re better off finding someone you already have something in common with anyway.  Not to mention, I know you well enough to say that you’re smarter and cooler than all of them put together.  You got that, little buddy?”

Hiro smiled, suddenly aware of a newfound trust for his older brother.  The ferris wheel car screeched to a stop at the bottom, and they stepped out.

“I know it’s hard for you to make friends since you’re going to school with kids who are older than you,” Tadashi continued.  “but I promise that you can find someone who you can get along with.  I’ll do my best to help.”

As they walked, Hiro tripped over something and tumbled to the ground.  A small, metallic object bounced out of his pocket at he fell.  He hurriedly scooped it up again, but Tadashi had already seen it.

“Hiro! Is that one of the pieces from Dr. Kelley’s robot!?” He demanded.

Hiro hesitated.  “Ok, yes it is, but I wanted to see what it looks like inside, so I thought I could take it home and-”

“That’s stealing! We have to take it back, right now, before they close up for the night.” They set off back to the robotics tent.

As they got closer, they could see Dr. Kelley along with a younger woman walking away from the tent.

“Dr. Kelley!” Tadashi called, chasing after her.  “We have something of yours!”

They caught up and explained the situation to the somewhat bewildered doctor.  She looked sternly at Hiro.

“And why did you think it was okay to take some of my tech?” She asked.  The woman next to Dr. Kelley crossed her arms and furrowed her brow.

“B-because...” Hiro tried to avoid eye contact.  “It’s not that I thought it was okay, I just really wanted to see how it worked inside...”

“Hm.” Dr. Kelley peered down at him.  “You know, they say that curiosity killed the cat.”

Hiro nodded.  “I know.”

“Still,” she continued.  “Curiosity is also what put us on the moon, and it pushes us to the boundaries of creativity.  I think, Hiro, you are someone that I can trust you to keep my tech.  Only, of course, if you promise to take good care of it.”

A smile spread across Hiro’s face.  “Thank you so much Dr. Kelley! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”  He began to skip towards the park’s exit.

“You know,” Tadashi said to the doctor.  “I think you might have just made his day.”  He followed after his brother.

“Why did you do that?” The other woman asked her.

“Because, Dr. Tanaka, that boy is going places some day.  I know it.”

 

On the streetcar ride home, Hiro leaned against Tadashi’s shoulder and slowly drifted off to sleep.  It was dark outside, and a pleasant, cool air filled the city.

Tadashi smiled.  The gentle buzz of chatter in the streetcar gave him a feeling of relaxation.  Although he knew Hiro was not listening, he looked down at his brother and whispered “I really hope you had a good day.  I’m always going to be here to try and make sure that you’re having a good day.”

 

THE END


End file.
